World Bank: Coronavirus pandemic could push 60 million people into extreme poverty

The coronavirus pandemic and the resulting economic shutdown could push 60 million people around the world into “extreme poverty,” David Malpass, President of the World Bank Group, warned in a press release on Tuesday.

According to the World Bank, “extreme poverty” stands for living on less than $1.90 per person per day.

The World Bank said it had set up emergency response operations in 100 countries to address to the impact of the pandemic.

“To return to growth, our goal must be rapid, flexible responses to tackle the health emergency, provide cash and other expandable support to protect the poor, maintain the private sector, and strengthen economic resilience and recovery,” the World Bank added in the release.

Threat is severe in Africa

The threat is particularly severe in Africa, both Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Solomon Dersso, Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, warned.

“This health crisis, along with the debt burden of the continent and its already fragile economies, threaten to further drain reserves, cripple nascent job creation schemes and annihilate gains made in social development and efforts to industrialise,” Bachelet and Dersso said in a statement.
“This could throw millions more people into want and poverty, with catastrophic consequences to the human rights of the most vulnerable, including the poor, women and children.”

Bachelet and Dersso called for greater access for coronavirus diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines, and asked creditors of African countries to freeze or relieve those countries’ debts.

To date, the pandemic has reached all 54 African states and infected nearly 88,172 people across the continent, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The death tally on the continent stood at 2,834, OHCHR added.